Can Node.js call Chrome?

Question

Is it possible that a Chrome browser window appears on the Node.js desktop? I would like to launch Chrome Browser, providing the size and location of the window when Node.js receives the event.

Are sys shell commands just a methodology?

Answer 1

var exec = require('child_process').exec exec('open firefox www.google.pt' , function(err) { if(err){ //process error } else{ console.log("success open") } }) 

This opens firefox on google page from node_s script node, for chrome should be the same

Answer 2

On macOSX

 var childProc = require('child_process'); childProc.exec('open -a "Google Chrome" http://your_url', callback); //Or could be: childProc.exec('open -a firefox http://your_url', callback); 

A bit more:

• Use "open -a" with the name of your application from / Applications and add your arguments.
• The callback function is called with an exit after completion.
• API Link: https://nodejs.org/api/child_process.html#child_process_child_process_exec_command_options_callback

Answer 3

Now I open a new firefox tab on the windows: https://github.com/Sequoia/FTWin/blob/master/FTWin.n.js

The most important part:

 var cp = require('child_process'), url_to_open = 'http://duckduckgo.com/'; cp.spawn('c:\\Program Files (x86)\\Mozilla Firefox\\firefox.exe', ['-new-tab', url_to_open]); 

Note:

• Passing the full path of firefox to child_process.spawn
• Removing Slashes
• Passing switches / arguments to firefox.exe: passed as the second cp.spawn parameter as an array (one entry for each switch).

This call is equivalent to entering "c:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe" -new-tab http://duckduckgo.com at the Windows command prompt.

For chrome, you need something like D:\Users\sequoia\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe --new-tab http://duckduckgo.com/ , I will let you develop a version of child_process yourself; )

Literature:

http://peter.sh/experiments/chromium-command-line-switches/

http://nodejs.org/docs/v0.3.1/api/child_processes.html

Answer 4

With opn :

 const opn = require('opn'); opn('http://siteurl.com/', {app: ['google chrome']}); 

Answer 5

Checkout https://www.npmjs.com/package/chrome-launcher :

Run chrome:

 const chromeLauncher = require('chrome-launcher'); chromeLauncher.launch({ startingUrl: 'https://google.com' }).then(chrome => { console.log(`Chrome debugging port running on ${chrome.port}`); }); 

Headless Chrome Launch:

 const chromeLauncher = require('chrome-launcher'); chromeLauncher.launch({ startingUrl: 'https://google.com', chromeFlags: ['--headless', '--disable-gpu'] }).then(chrome => { console.log(`Chrome debugging port running on ${chrome.port}`); }); 

chrome-launcher opens the remote port for debugging, so you can also control the browser instance using DevTools .

Puppeteer is another way to launch Chrome and interact with it using a high-level API.

Answer 6

Yes, I think you will need to escape into the shell and then open the chrome.

Answer 7

Node can only do this when calling the UNIX / Windows command, so only the sys shell command.